2 Lathrop parks get rubberized playing surfaces

Lathrop taxpayers have already been enjoying new rubberized play surfaces at some of the city’s most heaviest used parks thanks to proceeds from Measure C.

And now they have two more locations where the state-of-the-art upgrade has been added to enhance the safety and the aesthetics of the playground area.

The Lathrop City Council this month adopted a resolution that accepted the work at Parkwest and Crescent Park that replaced traditional bark or sand around the playground with a rubberized surface that cuts down on the number of injuries and makes it easier for crews to maintain.

It even came in under budget.

In March, the council approved the work with Soracco for $129,870 with a contingency of $19,480. The contractor never touched the contingency money available for the project. The council will be able to transfer nearly $24,000 back into the Measure C fund for other projects and improvements that are on the horizon for the coming months.

Lathrop voters overwhelmingly approved the one-cent sales tax increase for things like public safety and parks upgrades in November of 2014, and since then – aided by an economic uptick that led to more money being generated than was previously expected – the city has used the funding for everything from traffic signals and speed alteration devices to shade structures at local parks.

A total of 40 percent of the money that comes in is immediately set aside for the Lathrop-Manteca Fire District – a handshake agreement between the city and the district allows for the hiring of additional personnel and the purchase of more equipment and apparatus. The city has used the largest chunk of its proceeds to hire additional police personnel and fund positons that were eliminated when the housing market collapsed.

All Measure C purchases – including the rubberized surface upgrades – are approved by an independent oversight committee that operates apart for the Lathrop City Council to ensure fiscal responsibility.